Sony’s been a quiet giant in 2017, allowing new hardware like the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One X to dominate the headlines while it’s shrewdly focused on its own fantastic line of PlayStation 4 software. It’s culminated in a year where the console’s achievements have been glossed over by the enthusiast media, but have been nothing short of sensational all the same – after all, it just registered its best ever month in the latest NPD report, and also moved 10 million units globally in under six months. For a device lurching towards the latter stages of its life, the fact that the PS4 continues to break records is a testament to Japanese giant’s approach to this generation. And in this article, we’re going to take a look back at the device’s year in review.

PS4 in 2017 Review: Head Is Spinnin’ Thinkin’ ‘Bout Games

This was the best year for PS4 software by far. There was criticism at the start of the generation that the console lacked real meaningful content, but as is so often the case with Sony systems, it really started to flex its muscles in 2017. With major Game of the Year candidates like Persona 5 and Horizon: Zero Dawn launching exclusively earlier in the year, accompanied by console exclusives like Nioh and NieR: Automata, it’s been a superlative year for new releases on the device.

The most impressive thing about the PS4’s lineup in 2017 is that it’s been relentless. There have been no real gaps in the schedule; no downtime. From the very beginning of the year with Gravity Rush 2 right through to the end of it with LocoRoco 2 Remastered, the platform holder’s been either putting out new first-party titles or striking partnerships with third-parties to ensure that it’s got the most complete versions of major multiplatform games.

But, as alluded, it’s not just the blockbusters that have shone on the PS4 this year. Yakuza 0, a franchise beloved by a vocal niche but on the cusp of irrelevance before Sony stepped in and localised Yakuza 5 for the PlayStation 3, finally managed to break out and reach a new audience. The manufacturer doubled-down on budget releases like Knack 2, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and Everybody’s Golf. And it tried something entirely new with PlayLink, a new casual line of titles designed for the whole family.

As our Game of the Year content is going to show over the coming weeks, the PS4 was host to such a broad spectrum of software that virtually everyone has different favourites. And that’s because, whatever your tastes, there was a rich variety of titles to choose from in 2017. Was this the greatest year ever for new releases? The titles probably won’t have the lasting impact that those released in 1998 or 2001 had – but it’s in the conversation, and Sony’s system played a big part in that.

PS4 in 2017 Review: Hardware Takes a Backseat

This was a year very much all about the games, and so the hardware was more of a footnote on 2017 to be honest. Sony refreshed its entire product portfolio last year with the introduction of the PS4 Pro and PlayStation VR, as well as the PS4 Slim, so it was never going to twist this Christmas with new consoles. It did revise its PSVR headset, correcting the original model’s HDR oversight, but that was about it on the hardware front.

The introduction of new hardware in 2016 did have an influence on how it approached this year, though. We saw the PS4 hit the mainstream price point of $199 in the US on Black Friday, a figure which catapulted the console to its best ever NPD result in November – owing, we assume, to the reduced manufacturing cost of the revised model. We also saw Sony become a little less gun-shy with regards to the PS4 Pro, opting to advertise games running on the supercharged system.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment with regards to hardware is that the platform holder seemingly ignored requests for a premium DualShock 4 controller. In Europe, the company’s been advertising third-party “pro” controllers from the likes of Razer, but it’s clear that there’s a sizeable number of hardcore games who would pay extra for a top-of-the-line official peripheral manufactured with higher quality parts.

PS4 2017 in Review: PSVR Defies Expectations

Cynics expected PlayStation VR to go the way of the PS Move or EyeToy before it; the opposite has been true. Sony’s done an excellent job of supporting its virtual reality headset, pairing big first-party games like Farpoint with third-party titles such as Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Its biggest achievement, though, has been working with indie studios to ensure that there’s something new to look forward to on a weekly basis. And the quality has generally been very good.

PSVR has also proven this year that, while it’s arguably still better suited to short-form experiences, longer games can work in virtual reality as well. The Elder Scrolls V: Skryim VR was a real surprise, for example; dreadful in early demos, the title really came together at the last minute, and it offers a unique way to play one of the greatest role-playing titles in recent years. With the likes of Blood & Truth on the horizon, the future looks bright for AAA-calibre PSVR games.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though. While the PS4 Pro has really upped the quality of visuals in virtual reality, the ageing PlayStation Move is starting to reveal some shortcomings in Sony’s setup. Games like SUPERHOT VR, which heavily rely on motion tracking, lack precision due to the dated technology of the manufacturer’s wands. And with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive both offering vastly superior alternatives, control is a concern on PSVR heading into 2018.

The good news is that many of the Japanese giant’s big names, like God of War and Spider-Man, are slated to hit store shelves next year. In fact, a brief glance at the PS4’s fledgling 2018 lineup reveals untold riches of exclusives – an improvement even on this year. Media Molecule’s Dreams, for example, has finally overcome its announcement hurdles and emerged as a real creative tour-de-force. Meanwhile, there’s Detroit: Become Human, Days Gone, and Concrete Genie to look forward to.

Yes, some will lament The Last of Us: Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, and Death Stranding all lingering far away on the horizon, but it’s nice to see that long-term commitment to first-party PS4 development – it proves that the console still has a lot of life in it into 2019 and beyond. And as long as the platform holder resists the temptation to reveal too much (there was only a single Death Stranding trailer in 2017, for example) then that’s fine by us.

PS4 2017 in Review: What Could Be Better?

It’s been a brilliant year overall for the PS4, then, but there have been a few niggling concerns. Cross-console play was a big story earlier in the year, although it’s failed to really gain any real traction – not even Geoff Keighley could engineer a strong enough reaction from the audience at The Game Awards 2017 to make the topic go viral. It’s still something that needs to be addressed, though, even if it’s just a case of the manufacturer being honest and explaining exactly why it won’t support it.

We also think that Sony’s getting lapped by Microsoft when it comes to legacy support. Whether or not the Xbox One’s backwards compatibility program is selling consoles, it’s embarrassing how badly PlayStation has fared in this department – especially when you consider that it has a catalogue actually worth celebrating. The whole PS2 Classics program has been a wet fart, while PlayStation Now feels like a service that’s still not ready for primetime.

To be fair, the manufacturer has handled backwards compatibility in a different way, cherry-picking classics like Shadow of the Colossus, WipEout Omega Collection, and Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy to revive. But moving forwards there’s so much more that can be done here, and when you see the Xbox One X automatically upgrading Xbox 360 titles without any additional work required, we can only hope that Sony has the same kind of forward-thinking in mind.

Another worry is the removal of prestige projects like What Remains of Edith Finch and RiME from Sony's first-party portfolio. In past years, Sony was brilliant at funding and publishing these kinds of externally developed titles, but it seems to have all but dropped them from its catalogue of late. The manufacturer needs to remember that titles like Journey spawned from its willingness to work with talented teams, and it hurts to think it’s moving away from these kind of collaborations.

PS4 in 2017 Review: Conclusion

For many, it was business as usual for PS4 in 2017. But that’s a reductive way of looking at things, as this was the console’s best year by far. Not only was the software lineup strong from start-to-finish, but it also sold at record pace – an outstanding achievement considering the device’s age. Perhaps most impressive is that, looking forward into 2018, the console’s lineup looks even stronger than it did this year – and PlayStation VR is going nowhere either. While there are still some areas we wish that the platform holder would strengthen – namely its backwards compatibility strategy – this has been a quietly brilliant year for Sony and the PS4.

What did you think of PS4’s 2017? What were your favourite things about the console this year, and what do you think can be done better? Are you excited for PS4 in 2018? Look back on the last 12 months in the comments section below.

Although I don't have the budget in time or financially to buy into many of these great games at the moment, I'm very grateful that my gaming platform of choice has so much to offer. Hopefully Sony can keep up the cadence for the rest of this generation and into the next.

The PS4, for me, proved itself as its own platform this year with first party games that will, I think, stand the test of time. We've missed that from this generation so far by and large. Sony really has doubled down on what gave the PS3 its later life - a real diverse portfolio of games.

When it comes to VR, as an early adopter, I personally cannot fault the support and range of titles. My only quibble is the Aim controller support has been a bit lacking after the fun I had with Farpoint. Anyway, I had my doubts at the start of the year about whether it was being jettisoned or not and I was completely surprised by the sudden focus it got from just before E3 onwards. I feel people are talking about VR games now, like Skyrim, RE and upcoming titles like Moss.

I have played more games this year then any year since the PS2 days. Lots of reasons for it but a big one has been the library and choice.

Not mentioned in the article I don't think but PS Plus has also had good year in the game titles department. Anyone else agree?

I also read over on Reddit that, at the moment, there's more PSVR titles announced for 2018, than stock PS4 games. Dunno how true that is, but either way it's encouraging, as my name is Hengist and I'm a VR addict.

I think 2017 was the year I collected a lot of PS4 games, but only played a few of them. Which is fine, as I've started scaling back my purchases simply because I don't have the time to play everything I buy. I only have 3 games on my radar for 2018, and they're all on the back burner until I get through FFXV, Nier Automata, Persona 5, and Nioh.

You are aware, I hope, that ps3 emulation just isn't possible on the ps4 because of the very different insides of each console. If you want the BC strategy to be better, then suggest how you overcome the fact that copying Xbox on this is impossible.

@JoeBlogs Yes of course. I don't feel like there's a long-term strategy for BC on PS4 like there is on Xbox One, though. If you look at what the One X is doing for even 360 games without any additional patching, it's insane. Safe to assume that same support will extend to the next Xbox as well.

With the PS4 it's all very wishy-washy. The PS2 Classics program is fine, but it's been very poorly supported since launching. Extremely poor. There's still no way to play PSone games on the PS4 either. And does anyone have faith that when the PS5 comes around, all of the content on PS4 will get a "free" boost like the next Xbox will obviously do?

Sony's great in the here and now, but I'm not sure it's doing enough with its legacy, both in terms of making old games playable and in terms of laying the foundations for the future. That's my criticism.

So ehmm...if my maths is correct I bought 54 PS4/VR games this year- of which 29 were 2017 releases.

The year has been too good. Persona 5, Horizon & NiOh are all in my top 5 games of this generation. Then there are all the likes of HellBlade, Nier, Yakuza, Gravity Rush 2,... that have been the filling to a wonderful gaming year.

I'm also pretty happy with PS+. Think I 'made back' 3x my yearly investment through games for my Vita & PS4 that interest me & that's not even taking into account PS+ discounts.

It has been a tough year for my wallet & next year looks even better. Roll on 2018 & maybe a couple of extra shifts at work...need to find some way to finance all these games !

@get2sammyb Fair enough. I'm slightly more hopeful for the future than you, though. I reckon that at the very least the ps5 will play ps4 games on day one. The Pro's 'boost mode' feature suggests that there could be a free boost of some kind too. Sony must be looking at the popularity and goodwill generated by BC on Xbox One as well as the success of the NES and SNES classics. There's clearly a market for old games, so they would be mad to ignore it.

The best is yet to come for PS4, The Last of Us 2, Spiderman, Death Stranding, God of War, Days Gone, The Inpatient, Monster Hunter World, Shadow of the Colossus, Yakuza 6, Ni no kuni 2, A Way Out, Far Cry 5, Dreams, Medievil, Detroit Become Human, Concrete Genie, Blood and Truth, Ghost of Tsushima, Shenmue 3, the list is never ending.

I think this year is the turning point for japanese games on ps4. With persona 5, nioh, nier automata, gravity rush 2, yakuza series, etc, it seems japanese games are finding their audience again. I hope this will continue in 2018 too.

@Simon_Fitzgerald It's insane really, I already built my must-have games for next year lol. Starting with mh world, dragonball fighter z, sotc, god of war, spiderman, and detroid.

@JoeBlogs The main issue is that the PS3 had a very different CPU and that is affecting BC potential. MS also have a dedicated team working on old games to ensure they work as, if not better than, expected. DF did a great video explaining how BC works and why certain games can offer 'X' improvements - like increased resolution and HDR. Games like Ninja Gaiden was built in Widescreen but limited on console so they already had the information built in. Halo 3 was tone mapped down to SDR and had better quality assets built in so the just reverse engineered the game to improve textures, resolution and HDR performance. The X was also built with BC in mind and has 16x Anisotropic Filtering built into the hardware.

Sony's approach is different. MS are actively looking to preserve their 'history' of games and building their consoles with that in mind. Sony are more focused on the present and future. If a CPU is best for the present/future, they will use that - if BC is possible then 'bonus', if not - so be it. They won't compromise their future devices just for the sake of BC. The whole reason that Boost mode wasn't enabled at launch was because they wanted to ensure EVERY game worked as it would on a PS4. Having a 'faster' CPU can mess up the timings and lead to issues in games. The boost mode itself isn't exactly a 'big' boost - especially when you compare that to the X.

Like I said though MS have a dedicated staff team to work on 'every' game that is in the BC list. Its not 'every' game either and some games will never come - either due to licensing (no longer owning the rights to franchises, music etc) or the studio's have now gone. I don't think Sony see the value in that when they can invest in future games/products etc. Its not affected their sales.

Without a doubt Sony's best year with ps4.Brilliant line up of new games and a really good,sleek interface on the system.Ps store has very decent regular deals and is smooth to use.Ps plus free games are a bit hit and miss but I find the multiplayer servers to be pretty strong and reliable.Vr has sold well and been supported well by sony and third party developers which was so important after what happened to ps vita.Not sure what they can do to improve the system, personally it's pretty much how I wanted it.Maybe only gripe is psnow price point, needs to be below £10 imo.Funny thing is I think 2018 might be even better

@get2sammyb I know PS3 and PS4 are different architectures, but you think one day you will be able to insert PS1 and PS2 discs into the PS4? Make it work like on Xbox One with original Xbox games maybe.

@BAMozzy I also reckon that stupid cell processor is by far the biggest mistake Sony has ever made with regard to PlayStation and they're still paying for it this gen, as it's the reason BC isn't possible. Had it been a success, I guess the ps4 would have it, too, and we would now be able to play ps3 discs in the ps4.

It has been a wonderful year for gaming in general and PS4 has been a massive part of that. The previous couple of years I have been underwhelmed by the content on offer and found plenty of time to hammer my back catalogue. This year I haven't had time to breathe between all the quality releases to the point where I bought several games, like HZD, Nier etc, and still haven't found time to touch them yet! The range and variety on PS4 has hugely impressed me this year where I can't see how anyone can really moan that a certain genre hasn't been represented with real quality, in some cases several times over.

BC is a time waster imo, unless properly remastered. If I spent time replaying 2 classics from PS3/PS2 era that's at least average 60-80 hours (or 4-6 weeks cos I work!) not playing a game of currently PS4 gen! Which makes my backlog grow even longer and missing out on PSVR. However Shadow of Colossus or crash bandicoot remakes I do dig as its like going from a simple big mac transforming to a gourmet burger. Just bought PSVR and already got 7 brand new games on it... Defo no time for old classics except maybe the odd one or two.

I feel like Sony will do something with backwards compatability sometime in the future. Whether itll be an updated ps4 that will play any playstation game, or just be integrated with the ps5 (whenever that will be). Sony has so many amazing games from all their systems and it would be great to play any game you want/own on your newest console.

It was an amazing year for PS4, the best of the console yet. The year of 2017 was a great year for gaming and Sony still is the main contributor with many exclusives.It's really sad that games like Gravity Rush 2 didn't have so much recognition, because it's easily one of my favorite games of this generation. Sony also delivered a great new ip and that's Horizon Zero Dawn, also my favorite game of this generation, it's awesome the fact that they give freedom for developers to create such a new ip, we should always welcome new ideas.Can't forget that Crash Bandicoot and Wipeout are back on Playstation, also amazing exclusives like Persona 5, Gravity Rush 2, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Everybody's Golf, Yakuza, Gran Turismo Sport, etc. There are amazing exclusives on PSVR as well like Farpoint and Resident Evil 7, btw, thanks to PSVR that virtual reality is doing so great.We could mention the console exclusives like Nier, Nioh, Final Fantasy XII, Ys and the list goes on.

The future looks amazing too, with games like Dreams, The Last of Us 2, Spider-Man, Detroit, Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima, Concrete Genie and Death Stranding.The best place to play without a doubt.

The year kicked off with Gravity Rush 2, Yakuza 0 and Resident Evil 7. Right from the start it just seemed 2017 was going to be awesome, and it was. Two Yakuza games, another brilliant Uncharted adventure, the best new IP this gen in Horizon: Zero Dawn, NieR: Automata and several very strong 'B' games from Japanese developers such as Ys VIII and Tales of Berseria. 2018 looks to be another big year as well but this one that's about to close is the best for PlayStation, I'd say since 2009 or 2013 and ranks up there with some of the best years in the glory days of PS1 and 2.

I bought and liked multiple games in the first 5 or 6 months of the year but since then I've barely bought anything. Even the novelty of PSVR wore off during the summer. Most of the multi-plat games ended up being of little interest me. So I'm hoping for a better more extended 2018 tbh. Highlights were Hellblade, Nier, and Horizon. Biggest disappointments GT Sport and Mass Effect Andromeda. Not to mention all the loot box garbage that's been rearing its ugly head more and more. If that trend continues into more games in 2018 it might be time to find a new hobby.

Great news to be a Sony fan and looking forward to the future. I still feel that Sony can do a little better on supporting backward compatibility for ps2 and make ps1 titles. I still don’t loose hope that Sony will bring the house down by announcing backward compatibility on e3 2018. They have nothing to loose and can get even more ahead of Xbox by doing so. Plus us the players want to see it happening. Stay to there word on NO cross play that will give an advantage to MS and console sales.

PS4's best year by far and now I'm finally interested in buying one. Sony released quality titles and even had some GotY caliber 3rd party exclusives to boot(Nier and Persona).

My nitpicks: No big holiday/Q4 releases and considering games like Days Gone, Dreams, Detroit and Spiderman have been announced for a while now, I expected at least one of these games to be ready. Days Gone would've been a great October release and Dreams would've been a nice November release. But, no point in rushing games/pushing out incomplete games.

I bought 2 games this year for the PS4- Nier Automata and Horizon Zero Dawn. Haven't finished either. Admittedly there has been a lot of titles for the system this year, but for me personally nothing has really grabbed me and the Switch and 3DS have my attention instead. Will hopefully get Okami PS4 for Christmas however.

i bought 4 games this year, so whilst i appreciate there was a lot of variation in choice on PS4 throughout the year for everyone, mostly it was very uninteresting for me. i bought only one multiplatform title, ME:Andromeda which i played for only a few hours.. horizon zero dawn was the standout title, and my favourite game of the generation so far. to be honest, the entire PS4/XB1 era has been largely forgettable except for a handful of titles.. but 2018 has more promise.

sony put BC into the early PS3 models and probably got enough usage telemetry from it to see that it was used only by a very small percentage.. it's probably why it was removed (along with making the PS3 cheaper), and why the PS4 doesn't have a backup cell CPU in it. i think BC is largely a waste of time for anything more than the previous generation.. i'd rather see the shadow of the colossus remake than hunt out a PS2 disc of it.

btw: i thought the xb1 BC didn't actually play the original discs anyway - don't you need to download a 're-compiled' version from the xbox marketplace?

I am honestly not saying this as some blinkered fan boy, but I buy new consoles to play new games. Not once have I thought about wanting to play an old game on my PS4, there are too many current games to keep up with.

It is one of those features that would be nice but, in the grand scheme of things, doesn't matter in the slightest.

The elephant in the room is that a small group of people in their spare time, with no financial incentive, have gotten PS3 games to run on x86 hardware with lesser specs and higher overhead than the PS4. This without having any of the official internal documentation that a dedicated team should have. Sony says "it's impossible", but recall they claimed the same thing about late era PS3 hardware and PS2 compatibility- until it was discovered that the emulation software that used to be free was now just being wrapped up in the PS2 Classics executables instead so players would have to rebuy their old games.

The thing is... with the system and games selling as well as they are, from a purely financial standpoint backwards compatibility would only hurt Sony. They're trying to push services like PSNow to keep consumers tossing down the cash, and a method to freely allow players to put in discs they have already bought, whether it be PS1, PS2 or PS3, would be a hindrance to that.

So we're not going to see them assign a dedicated group working on PS3 BC for the PS4. There just isn't enough of a financial incentive out there.

@Averagewriter Good points. To be honest, like 99% of people who comment on these things, I don't have a clue about the technical side of gaming and hardware architecture. I am willing to concede then that it might not be impossible to get ps3 games running on the ps4, but I still think it wouldn't be easy or cheap, and you're right that the financial incentive isn't there. From a purely personal point of view, it's not something I'm that bothered about anyway. I still have a ps3 if I do want to play ps3 games, and right now I don't because I can barely cope with all the new releases on ps4.